Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 4.0Bethpage’s library runs 72 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bethpage Public Library serves 19,537 people in and around Bethpage. Last year it lent 131K books, movies and e-books and logged 106K visits.
What Bethpage’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Bethpage Public Library ran 1,405 programs last year, about 27 a week. That’s 72 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 25,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
The Bethpage branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Bethpage Public Library spends $147 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (86%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 1,405 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 300 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Bethpage Public Library serves 19,537 people in and around Bethpage, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bethpage’s civic life grade
Bethpage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bethpage Public Library serves 19,537 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bethpage Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
131K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
42,294 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Avenue, Bethpage.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bethpage Public Library branch.
New in Bethpage? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethpage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 12,492 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethpage | Bethpage Public Library | — | 69 | — graded as part of its town |
| Levittown | Levittown Public Library fine-free | — | 67 | — graded as part of its town |
| Oyster Bay | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | B |
| Hempstead | Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library | — | 69 | C− |
| Plainview | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | — graded as part of its town |
| Hicksville | Hicksville Public Library fine-free | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Old Bethpage | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Plainedge | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Farmingdale | None of its own | — | — | C |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bethpage Public Library serves 19,537 people in and around Bethpage, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bethpage.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Bethpage
Does Bethpage have a public library?
Yes. Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Avenue, serves 19,537 people in and around Bethpage (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bethpage Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bethpage’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bethpage’s civic life grade?
Bethpage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Bethpage.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.